Dallas Cowboy's owner Jerry Jones said Monday, August 25th, that he expects to hear something this week on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to reinstate and possibly discipline Josh Brent.
Brent, who met with Goodell earlier this month, spent four and a half months in jail after being convicted of intoxication manslaughter following a car crash that killed Brent’s good friend and former teammate Jerry Brown.
On the morning of Tuesday, August 26th, Jones was asked about Brent’s current state of mind. The Cowboys owner and general manager then delivered the following description.
“When you on Monday are given a roll of toilet paper and it’s got to last you until next Monday, that’s a lesson of discipline,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. “That’s a lesson of life. That’s what happened to Josh. When you have someone next door to you that grabs your plate of food and you weigh 340 pounds but you don’t mess with him – he just looks at you, because you know that guy doesn’t care if you live or die – that’s a life experience. I think there’s a chance that Josh Brent may come out here and have a perspective that none of us have seen before, especially from Josh.
“He’s a strong football player. If he could really come in and has got his physical conditioning in shape, sooner rather than later on that football field we could really have an asset there. It might not be the same Josh Brent that left the football field, and that one was good enough to play and be a contributor right now for the Dallas Cowboys.”
Brent, who retired in July 2013, played three seasons with the Cowboys. Jones has already said that he would clear a roster spot for Brent once he is reinstated.
Can Jones tell that Brent is a different person emotionally?
“I don’t know that I know that,” Jones said. “I do know, though, that when someone goes through life-changing experiences, that’s what we like to think football does for young men, but he’s had that experience. He deserved that and many people think he deserved more, but the point is he has been through some eye-opening days. We could really benefit from that as a football team.
“In a totally and completely different way – and I’m going to make sure everybody understands that it is a completely different way, and you’ll see what I’m saying – when Chad Hennings joined the Dallas Cowboys and he had actually flown in Desert Storm single-pilot jets, actually had a crash in single-pilot jets. Chad Hennings had developed a discipline and developed a work ethic that made him a man among boys, and he was a major contributor technically [and] physically, but boy, was he a contributor from the standpoint of being an example of work ethic and an appreciation for the job you’ve got.
“It’s a shame that all athletes to some degree can’t have some of these life experiences and really have an appreciation for what a great opportunity it is to play in the National Football League. But Josh has had that, I think.”